Turning footwear hygiene into a practical preventive control
The SQF Institute has indicated that audits under SQF Code Edition 10 could begin as early as January 2, 2027.
One area receiving increased scrutiny in modern food safety systems is movement within the facility. Employees, visitors, and maintenance personnel move continuously between areas that may carry different contamination risks. While most food safety programs invest heavily in equipment sanitation, hand hygiene, and environmental monitoring, footwear traffic often receives far less attention, even though shoes repeatedly contact floors, drains, and other environmental surfaces that can harbor microorganisms.
SQF Edition 10 reinforces the importance of preventive, risk-based thinking across the entire operation. This means identifying potential contamination pathways and managing them before they contribute to product risk. For many facilities, foot traffic between zones represents an under-recognized transport pathway that can undermine otherwise strong sanitation programs.
Modern food safety frameworks already rely on several foundational practices to control environmental risk. Zoning and traffic control separate raw material areas from ready-to-eat spaces. Hygienic design helps prevent the accumulation of moisture and organic debris in equipment and facility structures. Environmental Monitoring Programs (EMPs) track microbial trends so facilities can identify emerging issues early. When these elements work together, they create a system that detects and manages risk before contamination events occur.
However, even well-designed systems experience challenges when personnel movement redistributes environmental contamination. Floors and drains often act as microbial reservoirs in food processing facilities, particularly in wet environments. Shoes that contact these surfaces can unintentionally carry microorganisms between work areas, corridors, and processing rooms.
UVZone® adds a dry, automatic shoe-sole treatment step at an appropriate entrance or controlled transition point. Standing on the station compresses the springs and activates mechanical switches.
From a preventive-control perspective, footwear sanitation provides several advantages.
UVZone® uses a standard 8-second treatment cycle. Both shoe soles are treated during the same activated cycle.
It reinforces zoning strategies. Facilities that have invested in raw-to-ready-to-eat segregation benefit when personnel transitions between those zones include a clear hygiene step.
It supports risk-based environmental management. When integrated into facility procedures, footwear sanitation becomes part of the broader set of controls designed to reduce the movement of environmental contamination within the plant.
Most importantly, the UVZone Shoe Sanitizing Station complements existing food safety programs rather than replacing them. Environmental monitoring, sanitation programs, and hygienic design remain essential components of SQF compliance. Technologically advanced footwear sanitation simply addresses a pathway that many facilities have historically managed informally.
Enhances traditional hygiene protocols
UVZone® is intended to complement a broader contamination-control, hygiene, infection-prevention, or biosecurity program. It does not independently establish compliance or guarantee a facility-specific result.
Read the Science
Application Limits
UVZone® treats the undersides of shoes during an activated treatment cycle. It does not continuously treat the room, the facility, or the footwear after the user steps off the station.
If footwear requires physical cleaning, that cleaning step remains necessary. If your procedure requires chemical treatment, shoe covers, dedicated footwear, hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, environmental cleaning, sanitation, traffic controls, or another facility control, that requirement remains in place until the responsible facility team approves a change.
UVZone® is intended to complement a broader contamination-control, hygiene, infection-prevention, or biosecurity program. It does not independently establish compliance or guarantee a facility-specific result.
Third-Party Lab Verified Efficacy. Selected results shown. Full laboratory reports are available upon request. Testing conducted from 2019 through 2022.
Efficacy claims based on independent laboratory testing. Results may vary based on application conditions. Patho3Gen technology is designed for environmental surface sanitation and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always follow manufacturer guidelines and applicable regulations.